Okay, So Maybe Biking Isn’t THAT Bad…
by carlywen ~ February 14th, 2011. Filed under: Cycling.I can happily say that I no longer hate biking. Its status among my preferences in life has been increased to tolerable. This morning I rode 30km before 10am. I’m pretty sure I biked more before 10am today than I have in my whole life total. The ride was actually pretty decent though, mostly because hills were avoided. I was also a lot more prepared than I have been in the past. This time I had gloves, bike shorts, and two pairs of long socks. Those three items are pretty crucial for me.
There was one hill right at the end of my route, however, which is like being kicked when you’re down. You’re excited to be done and then you look ahead to see a wall… Embarrassingly I had to get off my bike and walk it up. It just got to the point where my legs could just not push anymore. The whole pedalling thing is pretty foreign to my leg muscles. Hopefully they’ll be well acquainted soon.
There are still a few more things I need to learn to do, the most important one being how to grab my water bottle from its little cage and drink from it while biking. I’m always afraid I’m going to veer into traffic when I do it. Thank god for red lights or else I would be severely dehydrated.
What the road looks like to me...
Oh, and one more thing. Have any of you cyclists out there noticed that the roads designated as bike routes have the worst pavement in the city?? Does the city do it on purpose? Going along Balaclava or SW Marine is like sitting on a jackhammer sometimes. I have a road bike; it does not have shock absorbers. My favourite when the bike lane crumbles off into nothing. Maybe we should keep Gregor Robertson around after all…